| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Job answered and said: | 1Then Job spoke again: |
| 2“I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! | 2“I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! |
| 3Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? | 3Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking? |
| 4I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you; | 4I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you. |
| 5But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief. | 5But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief. |
| 6“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased? | 6Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak. |
| 7But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company. | 7“O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family. |
| 8You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face. | 8As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me. |
| 9He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. | 9God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes. |
| 10They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. | 10People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me. |
| 11God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. | 11God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked. |
| 12I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, | 12“I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target, |
| 13His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. | 13and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood. |
| 14He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. | 14Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior. |
| 15“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust. | 15I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust. |
| 16My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; | 16My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes. |
| 17Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure. | 17Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure. |
| 18“O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! | 18“O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf. |
| 19Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high. | 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. |
| 20My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. | 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God. |
| 21Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor! | 21I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends. |
| 22For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return. | 22For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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